Victorian Children (Childhood at Court 1819-191 - John Van der Kiste)

Member Name: kimgraham

Product:	Childhood at Court 1819-191 - John Van der Kiste
Date:	18/04/03 (421 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It is a good book

Disadvantages: none

Before getting stuck into this review I will come clean.

I know the author.

Actually I have come to know the author quite well, but to be fair I didn’t when I first read one of his books. Before you accuse me of bias you ought to know, and John would tell you the same, that if I needed to be I would probably be his fiercest critic. Mercifully it has never been necessary! Then again, most of you know him too as we are lucky enough to have him contribute to this site.

Childhood at Court is an enthralling read from start to finish. I felt that it transported me back through time to the Victorian and Edwardian eras. It is a fascinating look at the lives of Queen Victoria and her children and grandchildren, mostly. The author paints a vivid picture of life at the time for the aristocracy and totally takes you up in it. It must have been a wonderful time if you had power and money. I tried hard to lose myself in this and not think of the stark contrast of the awful squalor and poverty of the less fortunate. That is for another book.

The book begins with the story of Queen Victorias’s own childhood, a rather lonely and isolated affair. She had an elder half sister who was married off whilst the then Princess Victoria was still quite young. As she got nearer to the throne she was manipulated, partially by her mother the Duchess of Kent, with whom she fell out for a time. This is all heavily contrasted by her later years when she was surrounded by nine children and vast quantities of descendants! She went from being an insular and shy young girl to a matriarch of the first order!

I knew little of Queen Victoria as a child and this book helps to give insight into the woman she later became. She really did live a very sheltered childhood and for some time had no idea that she would become Queen. It is very easy to imagine her as a very maternal woman when you see pictures of her with her children or grand-children. Nothi
ng could have been further from the truth! She loathed the whole experience of childbearing and was not very keen on young babies, whom she likened to frogs!

We are then taken through the early married life of the Queen and Prince Albert and the arrival of each of their children. It is hard to comprehend how little involvement aristocratic parents had with their children at the time. They spent only a short time each day with them, preferring them to be brought up by nursery nurses, maids and governesses or school masters. The book does a splendid job of looking at the relationship of the children with their governesses, tutors etc. It goes into quite a lot of detail about their curriculum and their extra curricular activities. They were all very broadly educated and had a love of the arts, especially theatre. They would sometimes put on a play for their parents.

As in all families some of the children enjoyed their education and others did not! I enjoyed reading about the recalcitrant Prince of Wales, the future Edward V11. It made me feel better about my own stubborn daughter who is determined to have as little education as possible!

There is a lot of fascinating detail in this book about the children of Queen Victoria. Each of them is brought to life in the book, and the reader can easily see how many different characters there were among them. Life was quite spartan for the children as Prince Albert was very frugal and he and the Queen were determined that their children would not be arrogant, spoiled, or treat their servants badly. There are many snippets of their family life, and although contact was much less than we would have in a modern day family, it is very plain that they were loving and devoted parents who took a keen interest in the development of their children. This was all carried out in a very rigid framework however. Discipline was considered of paramount importance. This all comes across vividly and is an interesting l
ook at life in a bygone era.

I also particularly enjoyed reading about life at Osborne, the Queen’s home on the Isle of Wight. If you have been to Osborne House, you will know that it is wonderful. To read the book and learn what life was like there in its heyday was wonderful. You could almost see the children gardening in their individual plots by the Swiss Cottage, or cooking in their scaled down kitchen. It is all very expertly and colourfully brought to life.

John Van der Kiste has a talent for getting right into a subject so that you can really imagine that you are there observing all these goings on. It makes the read so much more enjoyable and the book hard to put down!

The book necessarily touches on the politics of the time, which sharply brings the whole thing into focus. It does not go into enormous depth, but there is plenty of information to give a complete picture of events at the time. The lives of Queen Victoria’s children are followed as they grew up and made the transition to adulthood. As they each married Queen Victoria’s descendants were destined to spread through most of the Royal Houses in Europe! The political consequences become obvious and one can see why things happened the way they did in Europe early in the twentieth century.

As time progresses we are introduced to her grandchildren and even great grandchildren. There were so many I am amazed that she knew who they all were! But she did, and tried to take an interest in them all. We are shown the contrast of the Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra as parents, as unlike Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as you could wish for! They were much more lively and fun loving and this really comes across as you read further into the book. There are some wonderful anecdotes about King Edward and his own grandchildren in the book. His geniality sparkles from the page.

Interestingly, there seems to be a backward turn with George V who
seemed to have been a much more distant parent. It was interesting to read about all of his children however, one only tends to think of the two brothers who became King!

If you like English or European history you will find this book fascinating. It gives such a flavour of the time. It is eminently readable without ever getting too heavy even when going into the politics! It is fascinating to learn of the inter personal relationships of this massive family descending from one remarkable lady. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and felt that I had learned quite a lot by the end of it. I was sad to finish it as I was enjoying it so much! I really felt that the individuals almost leapt from the page and I felt I understood far more about them and their role in Englands future having read the book.

If you still think I might be biased read it for yourself. You will not regret it. There are some wonderful photos which help one to visualise all the “characters” and I really enjoyed looking at them. It is currently being revised but will be re-released in a paperback format in a few months. Keep an eye out for it in the shops, or you could try your local library which is where mine came from.

To make a history book riveting takes a particular talent. John Van der Kiste seems to have this in abundance.He gets the balance just right between packing a book full of interesting facts and information without ever getting bogged down or heavy.

I really enjoyed it, it was a true pleasure to read.


Publisher: Sutton
Hardback: £15.99

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